Google’s Keyword Tool

Keyword research is one of the most time-consuming and often frustrating parts of using an ad campaign on Goggle AdWords. Putting together all of the data – from rates to search density to everything else – can be daunting. To further complicate things, once you’ve found a good keyword it can be challenging to find other relevant keywords to accompany it.

Google’s new Search-Based Keyword tool (http://www.google.com/sktool/) attempts to deal with that problem. The purpose of the tool is to look specifically at your site and offer new keywords ideas relevant to your site. It offers these keywords based on searches from Google over the last 12 months, so we’re talking about a solid history of data from which to work.

This tool helps site owners by giving them search query data that’s specifically relevant to the content on their site. In short, it provides site owners a way to take advantage of many advertising opportunities that otherwise have been missed.

Google’s Search-based Keyword tool is also useful if you’re not yet advertising on AdWords. You can use the tool to do research to find relevant keywords. An online pet supply store might use the tool to discover what sorts of pet amenities and accessories people are searching for online. If you run an MP3 player review blog, you can use the tool to identify what brands and models of MP3 players people are searching for, and focus your reviews in that direction.

One of the more exciting features of this new tool is the suggested bid data. What the tool does for you is to, for every search you make, make suggestions on specific landing pages on your site that seem to be related to that search. The tool then also offers a suggested bid amount that should be sufficient to get your ad into the top three spots of a search page for that keyword.

Like so many of the best Google tools, the Search-based Keyword Tool is currently in Beta. The good news about that is Google is still open to suggestions at this point. If you’ve ever struggled with keyword research, give the new tool a try and see how it does for you, then let Google know what they can improve.